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WHAT FRANCE 

DID FOR 

US 



By EDMUND HACKET 



MAJOR, U. S. A 



2)-^ 



(,0^1 



WHAT FRANCE 

DID FOR 

US 



By EDMUND HACKET/^ 

Major, U. S. A. 



Published by 

LA FRANCE 

An American Magazine 

220 West 42nd Street 
New York 



-Ifil 



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WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 

HAVE Americans generally any real idea of what 
France did for us during the war? Every citizen 
of the United States, worthy of the name, knows 
exactly what we did for France ; but how many^ have any 
clear conception of the incalculable value of the service 
rendered by France in return? 

The question is of the utmost importance to every 100 
per cent. American. No nation, no matter how mighty, 
can afford to deck itself in laurels which history must 
eventually wither to a sad degree. 

And yet in the smug content with which we of the 
United States of America have overlooked our debt to 
France, while preening ourselves in the belief that be- 
cause of our war services France owes us a debt she can 
never repay, we have done just that. 

To explain : Of what are we proudest today when we 
consider our part in the war? Our battle-field losses? 
Our sacrifices, whether of men or of money? Our vic- 
tories on the field of battle? 

No. 

Proud of them all we are, unquestionably ; but one and 
all, unless we lack ordinary intelligence, we must know 
that by comparison with those of our Allies they were not 
great. 

The thing we are really proud of is the fact that, iii 
less than a year and a half from the date of our entry 
into the war, we had mobilized, trained and equipped 
nearly four million soldiers; had actually landed half 
that number on French soil; had actually placed more 
than a million men in the firing line. 

A colossal feat, that; staggering to the intelligence of 
the old world, and an accomplishment beside which all 
other great f eatd of ^'g^^ 
into a certain in^gnificanoa-E-yg^ 

FEB181921 

DOCUMEOT^^ ij. Vision I 



ie seem to pale 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



Best of all, from our American viewpoint, it was ex- 
actly what both government and people of the United 
States determined to do the moment they entered the war. 

To pour upon the Central Powers such hordes of 
armed men, such volcanoes of high explosives, such fogs 
of deadly gas, such overwhelming death in every form 
that resistance would literally crumple and die off — ^that 
exactly was what we all hoped or planned to do from the 
moment "our hat went into the ring". 

But when? 

In the summer and autumn of 1918? Of months, per- 
haps a year later? 

Never in our wildest dreams did we hope to do what we 
did do before the spring or summer of 1919. Draft after 
draft had been planned for ; our men of forty were certain 
to be called ; incalculable sums of money were admittedly 
needed; and hundreds of thousands of lives regarded as 
certain to be lost when victory came, months "to the 
good". 

To what do we owe that marvelous fortune ? 

News though it may be to the great mass of Americans 
it was France who made it possible for the American 
Army to enter the field of battle in 1918. For France with 
magnificent sacrifice, at a time when further sacrifice 
seemed beyond her waning strength, offered the one and 
only solution to a problem that seemed unsurmountable. 

That problem was tonnage — ships for transport. Eng- 
land with superb sacrifice had given of her ships ; agreed 
to keep the ocean routes clear of the deadly U boat. 
France likewise and Italy, too, had given what ships they 
could spare. And on this side of the Atlantic every ship 
that could stand an ocean crossing had been comman- 
deered for service. 

Still the tonnage was short; not 50 per cent, of what 
was imperatively needed. For if the ships were filled 
with men alone, supplies and ammunition could not be 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



sent; and without supplies and ammunition our men 
could not be regarded as of fighting value. 

Unquestionably the worst problem America had to face 
in the war ! And France solved it. 

In effect, France said : "Send over your men ! We will 
do the rest!" 

And for so long as it was necessary, instead of guns 
we sent men ; instead of ammunition we sent men ; instead 
of supplies we sent men; instead of aeroplanes we sent 
men ; instead of tanks we sent men, instead of gas-masks, 
gas or gasoline, we sent men. 

France, by that offer, enabled the United States to econ- 
omize ship space to the extent of several million tons. 

In support of the statement, herewith is a list of ma- 
terial actually furnished by the French to the "A. E. F." 
up to the day of the Armistice. 

3,834 Cannon 2,300 tons of vegetables 

10,000,000 Shells 78,000 " " oil 

3,800 Aeroplanes 50,000 " " fire-wood 

(fully equipped) 2,100,000 cu. meters of 

240 Tanks lumber 

136,881 Horses 45,000 tons of forage 

5,000 tons of bread 19,000 hectolitres of 

6,000 " " meat gasoline 
15,000 " " potatoes 

Hundreds of thousands of machine guns, automatic rifles, 

grenades, etc. 

A total saving in transportation necessities of 3,381,507 
marine tons was what France saved the United States; 
and exactly what that meant, in solving our greatest war 
problem, any schoolboy may judge for himself by com- 
paring it with our own transportation accomplishment. 

The total amount of tonnage transported from the 
United States to France during the war was as follows : 

From June, 1917, to May, 1918 — 2,156,228 tons. 

From June, 1918, to Nov., 1918 — 4,059,635 tons. 

In other words, France not only furnished the "A. E. 
F." more than a third of the total amount of material 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



and food supplied to it up to the Armistice but actually 
supplied it over a million tons more than we were able to 
transport to France in our first year of the war. 

Other items still unmentioned in the modest bill of par- 
ticulars covering French aid to the United States during 
the war show that, for training purposes, France supplied 
1,500 French officers in France and 500 in America ; that 
she turned over to the "A. E. F." all her military schools, 
seventeen training camps, six artillery training camps, 
forty-three armories, and thirty-five cantonment zones — 
a surface space of 15,750 square kilometers. And finally 
she supplied for our sick and wounded no less than 30,000 
hospital beds, 100,000 places and 300 trains per day. 

Nor does this, even, fully indicate the importance of 
the aid she rendered. For on the day the Armistice was 
signed, the official American report shows that all the field 
artillery and howitzers used by the American Army at the 
front; all the shells of 75 m.m. and 155 m.m. calibre; all 
the tanks ; 81 per cent, of the aeroplanes ; and 57 per cent, 
of the long range guns had been furnished by the French. 

That same report admits not only that "our demands 
were formidable, continued and urgent," but that "every- 
thing supplied the American Army represented a restric- 
tion on the French people and their heroic Army." It 
might have added that "our demands" were in addition 
to the demands of France's other allies, all of which were 
promptly met, for guns, ammunition, etc., amounting in 
value to no less than 4,037,993,897 francs. 

England, Italy, Roumania, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, 
Greece, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Portugal, Sweden, 
Switzerland, Montenegro, Finland, Spain, Japan, Estho- 
nia — all drew on the marvelously prolific factories of 
France for war supplies, and France responded by an 
effort which, expressed in figures, was as follows : 

6,568 field pieces, heavy guns, trench artillery, 37 
m.m. guns 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



28,440 machine guns 14,570 military wagons 

82,882 automatic 181,025 harnesses 

rifles 3,632,000 gasmasks 

1,472,035 rifles 1,353,200 gas shells 

150,250 revolvers 8,000 tons gas 
1,553,019,000 cartridges 

Summing it all up with reference to the aid rendered 
America only, the conclusion is irresistible that were it 
not for France an American Army could not have mate- 
rialized on foreign soil in time or in sufficient numbers to 
be a deciding factor in the battles of 1918. 

What was spared its in men, in money and in misery 
by being there in time is the measure of the service France 
acttoally rendered its. 

How France Fares Today 

In our blindness to this great truth, to what as a nation 
are we shi*:tting our eyes? What shame are we not in- 
viting for future generations of our own people ; what dis- 
dain and hatred from those of other nations? And, to 
look not beyond the present, what frightful injustice to 
a nation that by every right is justified in asking of us 
what she will, are we not a party to? 

What, for instance, do we of the United States actually 
knew of the real situation in France today? How many 
of us care a "snap of our fingers" what it is? 

What she has done to recover from the effects of the 
war ; what constitutes the weight which impedes her re- 
covery ; what her chances are of lessening that weight ; of 
such things we know practically nothing. 

When the war ended, this is what France, the victo- 
rious, was "up against". 

Killed — 1,365,735 men (16% of the men who went to war 

or 5% of the total population of 
France in 1914). 

Woundedr—SfiOOyOOO men (Of whom 791,700 are unfit for 

active service or pensioned). 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



Destroyed — One-fifth of the Nation's productive wealth. 
1,129,000 tons of shipping 
550,000 houses (including badly damaged) 
460,000 tons of industrial material (stolen) 
1,300,000 head of cattle 

300,000 agricultural machines 
1,800,000 hectares of land (rendered unfit for use) 
2,245 kilometers of railway 
1,160 tunnels, bridges, culverts, overhead cross- 
ings, etc. 
1,075 kilometers of canals 
1,100 kilometers of highway 
factories 
mines 

Indebtedness — 200,000,000,000 francs (approximately) 

To be paid in i 5:20—45,000,000,000 francs 

Taxation, 1920— 20, 600 fiOOfiOO francs (State budget) 
(An increase of 319.3% from 1913 to 
1920) 

Pensions — 4,000,000,000 francs per annum 

In other words, France had to start her work of re^- 
construction with one out of every five of her able-bodied 
men lost to her ; with nearly as many more unfit for work ; 
with her shipping and inland transportation crippled; 
with mines, factories, farms, railways, etc., representing 
27 billion dollars of national wealth, demolished; with 
pensions payable to widows and maimed amounting to 
billions of francs per year ; and with a total indebtedness 
to be met, including war expenditures, of about 71 billion 
dollars. 

Did she falter before the task? Not for an instant. 

A year only has elapsed and already her ruined steel 
and mining, chemical and textile industries are prepared 
to resume their place in the world. Her agriculture, 
transportation and shipping are also regaining strength ; 
and the following figures will show what has been accom- 
plished in the reconstruction of the devastated areas. 



WHAT PRANCE DID FOR US 



Public Works, 

Of 2,245 kilometers of railroads destroyed, 2,028 are 
now open to traffic. 

Of 1,160 tunnels, bridges, culverts, etc., destroyed, 
656 are reconstructed. 

Of 1,075 kilometers of canals destroyed, 700 kilo- 
meters are open to traffic. 

Of 1,100 kilometers of highway destroyed (requiring 
for rebuilding 65,000 tons of various material) 
all are reconstructed. 

Agricidture, 

Of 1,800,000 hectares of land rendered unfit for culti- 
vation, 400,000 hectares are again under culti- 
vation and 200,000 hectares are cleared of pro- 
jectiles. 

Ten million square meters of barbed wire have been 
removed and trenches, requiring 55 million cubic 
feet of earth, filled. 

Of 300,000 agricultural machines stolen, 200,000 
havf* h^pn T*eT^ljicpd 

Of 1,300,000 head of cattle lost or stolen, 200,000 
havp hppn i^enlaced 

Of the 3,220,000 horses in France in 1913, there is 
practically a full complement now. 

Houses and factories. 

Of 550,000 houses destroyed or damaged, 60,000 have 
been made habitable ; 60,000 more are under con- 
struction ; and part of the remainder have been 
replaced by 15,000 barracks and shelters. 

Of 1,820 factories forced to suspend operation for 
various reasons, 835 have resumed production. 

Industrial material. 

In addition, 460,000 tons of industrial material stolen 
by the enemy have been located in Germany or 
Belgium, and about 180,000 tons have been re- 
stored to their owners. (Of stolen objects of 
every description, France has obtained restitu- 
tion to a total value of 8 billion francs.) 
Actually, France has accomplished no less of a miracle 
in her first year of peace than in her first year of war. 

High prices, an inflated currency, insufficient produc- 
tion, a lack of transportation, labor troubles and profiteer- 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



ing, these and their kindred evils are still hers, of course, 
but with help her complete recovery in the very near 
future must long ago have been a foregone conclusion. 

But help has been denied her and, unable to export, 
the situation she now faces is in many respects worse than 
the darkest days of the war. 

For daily in the financial markets of the world exchange 
in foreign countries rises against her; the value of the 
franc sinks lower and lower. 

At the moment, its value in American money is less 
than half what it was in 1914 ; and the cost of American 
products has doubled. 

The purchasing power of the franc in the American 
market today, therefore, is just about one-fourth of what 
it was before the war, while France, with vital need of our 
raw materials, is practically denied credit. 

Without credit, France is helpless. 

Despite the tremendous strides she had made toward 
reconstruction she trembles at the imminence of a fate 
which seems about to overtake her in common with all of 
continental Europe. 

In the words of an international authority in finance 
and economics, "that fate must be a complete breakdown 
of credit, of exchange, of commerce and trade ; and that 
in the not distant future unless the entire problem is soon 
dealt with." 

More than anything else, the war has brought wealth 
and glory to the American nation, and both, to an ex- 
traordinary degree, are the result of French sacrifice and 
French assistance. 

Yet America remains unmoved while France implores 
financial aid. 

What We Can Do for France 

During 1920 it is estimated that France will have vital 
need of wheat, cotton, oats, coal and machinery of the 
value of 3,000,000,000 francs. 

She will have to buy these in the United States. 

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WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



How, with her money so cheapened and without credit, 
is she to make those purchases ? 

"The American state, as a government, cannot advance 
and will not advance this sum." 

No less a French authority than Eugene Schneider, who 
headed the French Economic Mission to this country 
recently, is quoted not only as recognizing that fact but 
as stating further that "the day of State loans to a State 
is over. It is essentially a war measure and its continua- 
tion would paralyze initiative." 

Both abroad and at home, in fact, it is recognized that 
the granting of large credits to Europe through govern- 
ment machinery is impossible. 

Not only would the issuance of bonds, in such amounts 
as would be required to make such loans, result in further 
inflation of credit and consequently in higher prices ; but 
the increased export demand, which would be certain to 
result, would inevitably compete with our domestic de- 
mand for commodities; and in the absence of a surplus 
of those the effect of this, too, would be to drive prices 
higher. 

Obviously, it is not a case in which our government can 
act or should be expected to act. 

It may assist, and doubtless will support, any efforts 
France may make to obtain credit from private sources. 
But the problem itself is not governmental. That is for 
our bankers, our exporters and our investing public to 
solve. They alone can meet the responsibility; theirs, 
therefore, the duty of bringing aid to France. 

France must have wheat; she must. have coal ; she must 
have cotton ; she must have machinery. And to get them 
she must have credit — American credit. 

French Claims to Credit 

And now it is to be asked: On what actually does 
France base her claims to credit? Sentiment aside, is she 

10 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



really entitled to it? In other words, if the great Ameri- 
can public should decide to absorb a French loan what real 
security would there be behind that loan? 

To preface the answer, a few words about what peace 
must eventually do for France. 

Foreign Investments. 

Before the war, France had invested abroad 38 billion 
francs, of which two-thirds are not paying interest at the 
present moment. Peace should restore most of this wealth 
to its normal value. 

Loans to Allies, 

During the war France lent 10 billion francs to its 
allies. With peace fully restored it is logical to conclude 
that these credits will at least pay their interest charges. 

German Payments. 

France has assumed for war pensions an indebtedness 
approximating 4 billion francs per annum. With the 
Treaty of Peace in force, France will charge this sum to 
Germany and lighten the annual budget by that amount. 

Iron — Pig-iron — Steel. 

The return of Alsace-Lorraine to France will double the 
nation's production of iron, pig-iron and steel, and place 
it first among the European nations, and second among 
the steel producing countries of the world. 

Out of an estimated production of 45 million tons of 
iron ore, 17 million tons will be available for export ; while 
of a production of 9 million tons of pig-iron, one and one- 
quarter million tons will be exported. Steel production 
will run over 8 million tons, of which more than a quarter 
will be sold abroad. 

Rich Potash Fields. 

Alsace-Lorraine will also bring to France extremely 
rich potash fields which will not ®nly permit her to supply 
her own needs, but to export a surplus at considerable 
profit. 

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WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



Cotton and Woolen Exports. 

Again Alsace-Lorraine will enable France to double her 
exports of cotton products. One million spindles and 
45,000 looms have thus been added to her former equip- 
ment. 

In the woolen industry the outlook is equally bright, 
for to this Alsace had added 500,000 spindles. Sufficient 
raw material alone will be needed to double the amount of 
pre-war exports of woolen materials. Of the other tex- 
tiles, such as linen, jute and hemp stuffs, of which the 
export balance amounted to 50 million dollars before the 
war, it is certain that their production will rapidly out- 
grow every requirement of France. 

And Alsace-Lorraine brings oil to France — 50,000 tons 
per year from the Peschelbrom district. 

Hydraulic Power, 

During the war France harnessed her water power in 
order to save coal. Already 300 million dollars have been 
spent in such development, of which during the war alone 
120 million dollars were subscribed. The result at the 
moment is 1,200,000 H. P. against 700,000 H. P. before 
the war. In 1921, it is espected that 1,600,000 H. P. will 
be effective, which means an annual saving of 8 million 
tons of coal. 

The Chemical Industry. 

In the chemical industry, France ranked fourth before 
the war, contributing 13 per cent, of the world's output. 
During the war, military requirements produced large de- 
velopment, and while the expansion was not so great rela- 
tively as in America, due to lack of labor, it is true that 
the production of sulphuric acid was increased threefold 
in France whereas in the United States its production was 
only doubled. French agricultural needs, naturally, will 
absorb a large part of her increased production but a 
certain amount for export may reasonably be counted 
upon. 

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WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



Restored Tonnage, 

Of ships France made many sacrifices during the 
war. By purchases abroad, however, it has ah*eady suc- 
ceeded in raising its tonnage to its pre-war figure of 2% 
million tons, and it is planned to increase it to 6 million 
tons gross. Docks are being enlarged and numerous piers 
for large ships have already been constructed. Machinery 
for handling freight, likewise, is being installed in larger 
quantities. 

Railroad Facilities. 

With regard to railroads, figures have already been 
given indicating the extent to which those destroyed have 
been replaced. Freight moved from French ports inland 
increased from 32 million tons in 1913 to 52 million in 
1916 and considerably more in the last years of the war — 
a good indication certainly of how the country is now pre- 
pared to meet the transportation needs of peace. 

Colonial Wealth, 

No mention of French assets would be complete with- 
out allusion to its colonies. In surface ten times greater 
than France herself, their undeveloped wealth is enor- 
mous. In a few years, unquestionably, Algeria, Tunis and 
Morocco will be the granary of France. Northern Africa 
also produces fruit, wine and cattle; and cotton can be 
cultivated there. Her mineral wealth is considerable ; her 
trade amounts to more than 500 million dollars yearly; 
farming on an extensive scale can be carried on ; and the 
construction of new railways and the development of 
proper harbor facilities will increase her value to France 
enormously. So, too, with France's other territory — those 
prosperous countries of Indo-China, Madagascar, West 
and Central Africa and the French islands of the Pacific 
which are already sending to France in exchange for 
manufactured products meat, wheat, vegetable oils, lum- 
ber, cotton and ores. 

13 



it 



ti 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 

A wonderful list of assets surely; and against it to be 
reckoned only the following: 

(a) France's loss in coal production, amounting tem- 
porarily to 20 million tons yearly. 

(b) France's agricultural loss, represented by needs 
for 1920, of: 

Wheat 1,000,000 tons 

Oats 200,000 

Sugar 100,000 

Meat 25,000 

Is France entitled to credit? France is entitled to 
credit. 

Some Final Facts 

One or two more facts and the brief is finished. 

At the beginning of the war, France had from five to 
six billion francs in trade acceptances outstanding. The 
Moratorium "froze" those bills ; yet as this is written only 
800 million francs of the total amount remain unpaid, and 
it is expected that not more than half that amount will 
remain unpaid for any length of time. 
V Five years of tragedy and ruin, and yet in less than 
one year from the signing of the Armistice only about two 
per cent, of those bills remain unprotected. 

French banks, furthermore, are really strong at this 
moment. They got themselves out of the Moratorium in 
one year; and their resources are now "in a sufficiently 
liquid state to afford their customers the assistance they 
need." 

A large, new institution to be called the "Credit Na- 
tional" had been organized with its capital fully sub- 
scribed, chiefly to make loans to the people of the devas- 
tated regions and discount the indemnities allotted by the 
French government. Immediately, its charter is ratified 
by parliament ; it will start its activities. 

The French investment market also is good ; industrial 
bonds and notes are easily absorbed ; the city of Paris has 

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WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



just issued a loan of 1,500,000,000 francs which is quoted 
at three per cent, premium. The advances of the Bank of 
France to the French government, notwithstanding heavy- 
expenditures for cancellation of war contracts and pay- 
ment of demobilization money, are progressively decreas- 
ing. For the first three months of 1917 there were 4,450,- 
000,000 francs ; in June, 1919, only 944,000,000 francs. 

^'Financially, indeed, France has only two big problems 
on hand; and the first, which is to finance the French Gov- 
ernment through conversion into long-term bonds of the 
short term securities and the surplus in^debtedness on the 
bank of France, concerns herself alone. It is a big job, 
but the French know how to do it" 

The second concerns America vitally for that is the 
problem of exchange and foreign purchases. 

To quote no less an international authority on banking 
than Baron Jacques de Neuflize, "France is in the same 
position as a railroad with a maturing bond issue. How 
does a good railroad pay? It has no money; it has only 
equity, therefore it has to borrow again until it can repay 
by instalments through a sinking fund what it owes. The 
railroad also issues equipment bonds to buy whatever ma- 
terial it needs to assure its traffic." 

The finances of France were evenly balanced before the 
war ; "she could even loan half a billion dollars a year to 
foreign countries." But during the five years of war, 
France neglected her export trade for the business of beat- 
ing Germany and thus accumulated an adverse foreign 
balance. 

"Exchange is bad at present because foreign credits are 
smaller than French needs, but France still has equity, 
good equity, lots of equity behind the franc, and if it was 
only a question of its intrinsic value, you would not get 
more than 11 francs for a dollar.'* 

There is "the case in a nutshell." Intrinsically, the 
value of French currency is almost as great to-day as it 

15 



WHAT FRANCE DID FOR US 



ever was. American credit alone is necessary to restore 
it to its proper purchasing value in exchange. 

It is not so long ago, as time goes, that America her- 
self was without credit abroad. During the American 
revolution France alone of the nations of Europe was 
willing to grant us credit; and to quote the words of 
Charlemagne Tower: "The essential fact for us Ameri- 
cans to remember is that we went of our own accord to 
France to ask for help and that we received it from her. 
Not only did she encourage us by permission which she 
granted our agents to obtain supplies and munitions of 
war . . . but she employed her own credit to borrow 
large sums of money which she advanced to Congress." 

If the United States should forsake France now, "the 
war would be a stirring and glorious memory but also an 
episode without lasting benefits, something like an un- 
completed work. A merciless economic war would soon 
break out and once more clouds would gather in that 
clear and beautiful sky that should eternally spread over 
the cemeteries where our glorious dead lie side by side, 
sharing their glory after having shared their perils." 

Thus that great captain of French industry, Eugene 
Schneider, states it, and further declares: "If you re- 
main strangers to our efforts, you will remain strangers 
to our future, but you will not remain strangers to our 
sufferings." They "will reach you in spite of yourselves, 
in spite of ourselves." 

"For the sake of American trade and industry, for 
the sake of the loans already made to us, for the sake 
of helping Europe to start production, for the sake of 
sweeping away discontent and consolidating Peace, and 
for the sake of preserving and increasing American 
prestige" we must help France. 



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